Collaboration to create full “Advanced Potion-Making”

[a438980]

Hello all my fellow Harry Potter fans and forum family,

I’m starting this thread for one simple reason, to start a collective effort to create one of the most sought-after Hogwarts textbooks that is as accurate as possible: “Advanced Potion-Making”.

I’ve seen different versions of this book sold through various outlets, since WB has yet to release any kind of “official” version of their own, but have yet to find a free version that looks like it could have come from the same book as the pages viewable in he films and contains the pages and/or information referenced in the films and book series. I finally decided that since I don’t have the time or talent it would take to make a replica prop book that most Harry Potter fans would be satisfied with or that would be accurate enough for most fans to want, I would reach out to this community of gifted and talented individuals to work together in order to create a masterpiece we would all be proud to have contributed to.

My plan for this thread is that it be a place where we can collectively go through the following steps:

1. Gather all available details and facts about the book to determine what information should be listed in the book and where it should be.
2. Plan out details such as min/max number of pages, page formatting, chapter sizes, etc to determine the guidelines for the unique pages being added.
3. Choose what information and pages to create and add ourselves, as well as where to list it in the book.
4. Find and/or create images and diagrams that can be used throughout the book (such as ingredients, tools, results, etc).
5. Have volunteers create pages based on set guidelines and add submit them to have the community review it, and potentially tweak it, to ensure it matches the visual and writing style as the rest of the book.
6. Suggest ways to keep others from claiming the work to be their own and distributing it for a profit.

When this project has been completed we will, hopefully, have the most accurate version of the book possible with the details and images available to us. We could even possibly make it available in both “Snape’s version” and “original condition” with the handwritten notes provided separately so that the more dedicated fans can trace the notes on themselves.

In order to ensure that every contributor is in some way memorialized in this work there would, of course, be a credits page at the end thanking everyone by name, and/or username, listing their contributions. In addition to that, I would like each person to somehow integrate part of their name one of the pages they provide. I personally think the best way, to ensure that it doesn’t that it doesn’t ruin the magical aesthetic we’re going for, is to put your last name, or an anagram of it for common names, as part of an ingredient name or referenced somehow in a handwritten note.

I’m hoping that are enough members willing to donate at least a page or two to make this collaborative effort a success. It might take a while to end up with a complete book we can all be proud of, especially since we may only occasionally get additional pages added to the book every now and then, but I believe we can end up with a beautiful free addition to theRPF that any Harry Potter fan would be excited to own. Depending on how successful it is then after this book is done.

If there’s anyone else interested in working on this project with me then I’ll start providing screenshots, images, and various prop facts I can find to this page when I am able to.

TL;DR -
I’m looking for volunteers to collaborate on creating an as accurate as possible version of the book “Advanced Potion-Making” to distribute for free.

 

[LorduDesign]

Getting references for 'the full book' might not be as easy as you think it will be, as only a few people here (myself included) have seen both versions of the book in full, and possess references to create a replica that is extremely accurate.

Although I appreciate the effort, the original prop only had like 14 repeated pages, and that includes three index pages. Almost all pages use exactly the same text, so to be honest it's all a bit of gibberish.

Unless of course you want to follow the original index and create all chapters that did not appear in the original prop but were mentioned.

I see you mentioned 'Snape's' and 'original version'. By original version you mean an original undamaged/not used Edition number 2 or a newer Edition number 4? If you mean Edition no. 4, it has more content than 'Snape's' version (about 10 more chapters).

Also what makes me worried is that everytime someone creates something here, it ends up on Google/eBay for sale. So I'm not sure how that would work to be honest :/

 

[Krats]

I only have one pic of the book from my last visit to the HP tour. I understand they let you have a look through if you ask nice. Will have a go next time I’m down there.



With regard to copy protection: you can’t and it doesn’t matter. Anyone here selling paper props? I don’t. There’s no money in it. We’re ruining our own hobby with paranoia. The joy is in the making, so make stuff, share it and be happy. Stop worrying, it’s holding you back.

 

[LorduDesign]

The book on the tour that they are able to show is an edition number 4, as pictured on the photo. There are loads of differences in layout etc. between those two versions.

 

[LorduDesign]

Some of my own photos:

 

[a438980]

Hey LorduDesign,

I considered a lot of the things you mentioned and want to address your questions/concerns...

Getting references for 'the full book' might not be as easy as you think it will be, as only a few people here (myself included) have seen both versions of the book in full, and possess references to create a replica that is extremely accurate.

Although I appreciate the effort, the original prop only had like 14 repeated pages, and that includes three index pages. Almost all pages use exactly the same text, so to be honest it's all a bit of gibberish.

Unless of course you want to follow the original index and create all chapters that did not appear in the original prop but were mentioned.

I definitely don't assume getting all references for the actual prop will be easy, especially since every time the book is put on display in exhibits and in the studio tour it seems it is always left open to the same two pages. The only other images of the book I have collected have come from screenshots in the movie, images on the net from people taking pictures of the prop in person, and a few less-than-ideal-quality images and videos from presentations that Minalima has done over the years. I have also read about the text used in the non-potion portions of the book and seen the wiki page they copied it from, so I know that at least those pages will be a little nonsensical. Since I know that getting all details of the prop will be nigh impossible, I’m hoping we can at least gather and decipher enough information available in the films, books, and pictures people have taken to put together a close-to-accurate collection of the pages that were created.

My idea for the book would be that we follow the original index, adding replica pages of the original prop only where it corresponds to the index and/or where the film or books state they are, and create original pages for the missing portions. The original pages we create will need to be sure to match the style and design of the prop pages though to ensure it looks like it was all created together by the same author.

I see you mentioned 'Snape's' and 'original version'. By original version you mean an original undamaged/not used Edition number 2 or a newer Edition number 4? If you mean Edition no. 4, it has more content than 'Snape's' version (about 10 more chapters).

Sorry I wasn’t as clear as I should have been on this. My intention is for there to essentially be 2 versions of the book:
1. A clean version of Advanced Potion-Making 2nd edition in a single PDF file.
2. A Snape version of the 2nd edition that consists of 2 PDF files, one that is the textbook with Snape’s notes written in and another that contains just the handwritten notes without the textbook text and images.
If enough people want it, then after the 2nd edition is completed we can modify the pages we have and add the additional chapters to create a 4th edition version as well.

Also what makes me worried is that everytime someone creates something here, it ends up on Google/eBay for sale. So I'm not sure how that would work to be honest :/

This is honestly one of my biggest worries, not for myself but that encounters like you mentioned would keep RPF artisans from wanting to contribute. My other big worry is that this project would catch WB’s attention the way TK8541’s project on the book did and would get shut down. I thought about this a lot before creating this thread and came up with what may be an overly simple plan, that when the project is finished we simply put it out on any and every applicable site we can think of. DIY craft sites, YouTube, Harry Potter fan sites, discussion boards, etc. To avoid scammers/thieves from trying to sell it as theirs as easily I would even suggest that someone, or everyone, here with accounts on sites like eBay, Etsy, etc offer it there for the minimum amount allowed and possibly even provide a link there where people can download it for free. If we offer the book for 1 cent then it will be that much harder for scammers to trick people into buying their copies of the exact same book.
This is the best idea I could come up with that would allow us to offer the book for free to all without adding text in the pages that would make the book look less authentic/accurate, but I’m certainly open to suggestions as well.

Also, thank you so much for the images you just provided.

- - - Updated - - -

I only have one pic of the book from my last visit to the HP tour. I understand they let you have a look through if you ask nice. Will have a go next time I’m down there.

View attachment 809472

With regard to copy protection: you can’t and it doesn’t matter. Anyone here selling paper props? I don’t. There’s no money in it. We’re ruining our own hobby with paranoia. The joy is in the making, so make stuff, share it and be happy. Stop worrying, it’s holding you back.

Hey Krats,

Any and all images of the book would be useful and greatly appreciated. I also have images saved from various sources that I’ll add here when I get a chance later. Thank you so much for the images and for your offer to try to take more for us.

BTW, on a matter unrelated to the book, would you by any chance be willing to take some pictures and/or video of the interactive Marauder’s Map in the tour if it is still there? What I’ve found of it online is incomplete snippets and blurry pictures or video. My long-term personal project is to make a version on the map that includes fold-outs for the room of requirement, chamber of secrets, and the testing rooms leading to and holding the philosopher’s stone. No pressure though, if you’d rather not or it would inconvenience you in any way then don’t worry about it.

 

[LorduDesign]

Although I will not be joining the project, as I don't really do replicas anymore, I can help with some information.

Also, I have taken down quite a few stolen items from Etsy and eBay before, so if it comes to that I might be able to do that again.

As for creating a seamless book, as in created by one author, I think someone should do a template for Photoshop with the chapter footnote and all the guidelines etc.

What kind of info do you need? Any questions?

 

[a438980]

I have quite a few images of the 4th and 2nd edition of the APM book from screenshots, tour pictures people have taken and posted online, and from captures of exhibitions, but I'm having trouble finding the usb drive they're saved to. I will post them here as soon as I can track them down. Sorry for the delay.

 

[LorduDesign]

I have quite a few images of the 4th and 2nd edition of the APM book from screenshots, tour pictures people have taken and posted online, and from captures of exhibitions, but I'm having trouble finding the usb drive they're saved to. I will post them here as soon as I can track them down. Sorry for the delay.

Have you checked your messages by any chance?

 

[a438980]

Here are images I have finally been able to locate. These are images I have saved over the years from Google & Bing searches, pictures posted by bloggers from exhibitions or tours they attended, screenshots from the film, or images from books on Harry Potter. I do have others images, but unfortunately I saved pictures of the original prop in the same folder as pictures from different versions people have made over the years. I also have some images that others from the site have shared, but I want to be careful and not share images that they would rather keep private.

 

[a438980]

The information we will need to know is the dimensions of the book, so we can figure out what size the pages will need to be, and also how many pages we'll need in order to get the same thickness as the original prop has. From there we can use images and/or information on the table of contents to determine chapters, chapter length, and chapter content. This attachment is from where I previously read screenshots and notes from the Harry Potter Wiki to determine the text for some of the readily available pages.

 

[LorduDesign]

Here's a few pics. I have shared those in a private message but still, I will post them here.

Edit: Deleted images as they have been misused by some people.

 

[a438980]

Here's a few pics. I have shared those in a private message but still, I will post them here.

LorduDesign, thank you so much for the images you shared, both in the message you sent and your post here. There are some pictures of the 4th edition in what you sent me that show diagrams used in the 2nd edition as well, so as long as you're ok with it I'd like to post cropped copies of those on here so only the relevant part of the image is shared here.

 

[a438980]

So, by comparing the photos of the 4th edition's table of contents against the single page of the 2nd edition table of contents displayed by Minalima at an exhibition, it appears that the chapters and pages are the same for both editions with perhaps just the look, font, and diagrams changed. If that's the case then perhaps the best thing to do would be to follow the table to create pages. This would mean the book will end up being about 260 pages.

The book (Half-Blood Prince) does mention a couple of things I couldn’t figure out a place for in the table of contents though, “Elixer to Induce Euphoria” & “Everlasting Elixers”. While Everlasting Elixers may be part of another named section, I’m not quite sure where the recipe for the Euphoria Elixer should go. Unless anyone knows if it’s in the first or third page of the 2nd edition’s table of contents, I’ll just plan to place it in the chapter 2 section “Potions for Fun”.
The potion recipe for “Hiccoughing Solution” may also be in the APM book, since Draco brewed it for Slughorn in HBP, but I’m not clear whether it’s from APM or if Draco may have used a recipe from somewhere else. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

 

[LorduDesign]

So, by comparing the photos of the 4th edition's table of contents against the single page of the 2nd edition table of contents displayed by Minalima at an exhibition, it appears that the chapters and pages are the same for both editions with perhaps just the look, font, and diagrams changed. If that's the case then perhaps the best thing to do would be to follow the table to create pages. This would mean the book will end up being about 260 pages.

The book (Half-Blood Prince) does mention a couple of things I couldn’t figure out a place for in the table of contents though, “Elixer to Induce Euphoria” & “Everlasting Elixers”. While Everlasting Elixers may be part of another named section, I’m not quite sure where the recipe for the Euphoria Elixer should go. Unless anyone knows if it’s in the first or third page of the 2nd edition’s table of contents, I’ll just plan to place it in the chapter 2 section “Potions for Fun”.
The potion recipe for “Hiccoughing Solution” may also be in the APM book, since Draco brewed it for Slughorn in HBP, but I’m not clear whether it’s from APM or if Draco may have used a recipe from somewhere else. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

They haven't really followed the HP book as a reference, so I don't think you should either to be honest. And yes, pages are similar but they also changed the illustrations and plenty of other things.

 

[AZSneed]

Why make the book, minus the Prince's notes, when you can go to Diagon Alley and buy a new one at Flourish and Blotts.

 

[a438980]

They haven't really followed the HP book as a reference, so I don't think you should either to be honest. And yes, pages are similar but they also changed the illustrations and plenty of other things.

I know that there are certainly going to be differences between the book and film versions of APM, but I think I can stay relatively true to both. I will omit the "Hiccoughing Solution" recipe since I can't confirm that it actually was in the APM book, but the others can fit in the sections I mentioned. Since side-by-side images of the original props of the 2nd and 4th versions of APM show them to be the same size, I compared screen grab photos of the props and photos from the studio tour to confirm that the dimensions of book are about 22 cm x 14 cm x 2.5 cm.
View attachment 811091
This closely matched measurements taken by another RPF member (see his work on a replica APM book here) but the prop seems to be a little wider than what he originally listed. I also checked my measurements by folding a sheet of paper into the size and shape of the book, and it seems to fit the dimensions of the book that various students, including Harry himself, are holding in the film.

Why make the book, minus the Prince's notes, when you can go to Diagon Alley and buy a new one at Flourish and Blotts.

I don't want to get in trouble for breaking any wizarding copyright laws! I wouldn't survive in Azkaban! lol

 

[a438980]

Sorry for not posting much about this project, but with college coursework, getting packed to move within a few months, and normal weekly errands I try to work on this when I get the chance.

After checking the scale of page images against the book scaling I did before, it seems that the actual text area on each page is set to 10 cm x 16.5 cm or about 3.75 in x 6.5 in. To make typing the pages easier I am writing the page text in Word and following the table of contents from the images of the 4th edition with just a few minor adjustments. I haven’t gotten far, just up through the Introduction page, but I’m doing what I can. When The text for the first chapter is done then I will paste it into Gimp and add the diagrams and illustrations.


BTW, does anyone remember any of the HP dragons having any hair? Not sure how to write a section about “The Importance of Dragon’s Hair” if they’re all hairless.

 

[DarkWaters]

I'm curious as to see how this project is coming out! Any updates?

What I'm curious about are all the symbols used in the book. Are they legit alchemy symbols or are they all made up by MinaLima?

Example:




Is there a list of all the symbols used in the pages we see?

 

[LorduDesign]

They are legit illustrations from an old book. MinaLima rarely created illustrations for any of the props.